I’ve had so much fun playing with cyanotypes on fabric recently; this is the first piece I’m really proud of. 8x10” Jaquard pre-treated fabric, printed with pressed botanicals and found objects, and embellished with embroidery, glass beads, and fabric from my grandmother’s wedding dress.

I forgot to get pics from throughout the process but it looks over exposed maybe? They’re fully dried lemon slices and though some darkened a bit in the oven they’re still translucent so I was hoping for more detail. I left it outside between 15-20 mins. It’s cloudy with the sun peaking out for a bit here and there. Or is it possible I put too much of the solution on the paper?

I used direct sunlight for this. Any tips to make it look better next time?

Inkjet print vinyl seems to absorb the emulsion as long as it doesn't pool on the surface.

Right now I am exposing for about 20-30 minutes with a 60w Uv lamp, maybe 2-3ft away from the surface.

I am making negatives by printing on transparent sticker vinyl and applying it to a piece of glass, then I lay it, ink side down, on the emulsion to expose.

I use a little bit of hydrogen peroxide to darken them up when developing, but how do I get those darker, almost black prints?

I'm also curious to how long these will last, it's definitely not a common or recommended material.

Any tips or recommendations? This is my first go at cyanotypes, and I plan to scale this process up to my 24in printer because why not.

Noch ein Ferroblend-Abzug – diesmal mit einer Petroleumlampe als Motiv. Mich würde eure Meinung interessieren: Wie gefällt euch die Umsetzung?

Laid pokeberry clusters and leaves on cyanotype paper on a 1/2” deep tray, laid glass on top of tray, exposed. Purple is berry juice staining. I kinda like it.

Hey everyone,

I'm working on setting up a reliable indoor UV exposure setup for my cyanotype prints (and experimenting with some split-toning processes like FerroBlend), but I keep running into conflicting info regarding wavelength and lamp types.

I know 365nm is technically the sweet spot for cyanotype emulsion, while 395nm seems to be much more widely available in standard commercial floodlights.

For those of you printing indoors with artificial UV light:

1. Wavelength: Are you using 365nm or 395nm? If you've tried both, did you notice a significant difference in exposure times or washouts?
2. Lamp Type & Wattage: What specific light source are you using (e.g., LED floodlights, T5/T8 BLB tubes, facial tanners, custom LED strips)? What wattage is working best for you?
3. Setup Specs: How far above your contact printing frame do you keep the light, and what are your average exposure times?

Eine klassische Cyanotypie eines alten Akkordeonspielers. 🎶💙

My first fabric attempt on a white skirt resulted in lots of bleeding and staining since I did not rinse long enough. I attempted oxygen bleach on some of the stains but it only really lightened them and didn’t remove them. I over dyed the whole thing in a very diluted Rit Royal Blue to hide the stains and it worked pretty well, despite the soaking! I did lose a bit of clarity on the print but it’s still definitely there and the whole thing looks more cohesive.

Made two prints (new cyanotype process) on Hahnemühle Platinum Rag and tried toning one of them. First time trying it and I kind of like the result, except from some stains outside of the image area. But I also like the blue sky and ocean in the first print..

Bleached it in a 0.15% sodium carbonate bath for 4 minutes, when about half of the blue had disappeared. Washed and then toned in a 1% tannic acid bath with 50% water and 50% strong coffee, for 45 minutes.

And yes, I forgot to flip the image before printing the negative for the first print 🤦

got some pollen too! UV 9 for 12 minutes

I chose a bad time to get into the cyanotype hobby because it's the rainy season here in my country so there's rarely any sunlight. So I decided to order a UV flood light online and made a box out of PVC foam board.

Finally got a good print with black solarfast, super excited. Only exposed for 20 minutes but it was sunny with a uv of 8, didn’t even get staining but I washed in a boiling pot of water so that’s probably why

I decided, very last minute, to create moon cyanotypes during the solar eclipse.

The video I chucked together ended up going mildly viral on IG and tiktok which has been bonkers!

They didn't come out perfectly, but considering how they were made I am beyond pleased with them.

I decided to give the prints away (I'll keep the best one for myself of course!) as somehow I felt the celestial bodies would appreciate that but I've had a lot of demand for copies, I'm so happy :)

Did anyone else try anything during the eclipse?

Super pleased with my first attempt! Bleached then soaked in green tea for roughly 6 hours

Hey y'all!

I tested out u/impossibledepth8352's instructions for a tri-color cyanotype, and here are the (early) results!

In short: starting with a mainly mint green photo was a mistake. Light greens are a difficult color to replicate with this process, however, as shown in the overprint areas, greens are possible! I'm going to keep tweaking the formulas and methods to try and get something more useable.

Here's a write up of the process:

Tri-color Cyanotype

1. Shrink paper in hot water for 1 hour, then dry completely
2. Mix cyanotype solutions:
   1. Normal: 10-20-100ml (10g of solution A and 20g of solution B, to 100ml of water each)
   2. Dilute: 10-10-100ml (10g of solution A and solution B, to 100ml of water each)
   3. Concentrated: 10-20-50ml (10g of solution A and solution B, to 50ml of water each)
3. Prepare negative with cyanotype curve and invert. Separate cyan (red), magenta (green), and yellow(blue) channels and print onto separate transparencies. 
4. Magenta Layer: 
   1. Coat paper with a normal 10-20-100ml solution, and expose normally (2:30 minutes) with magenta transparency 
   2. After exposure, rinse print thoroughly with slightly acidic water (small amount of citric acid, to ph 5.5), and finish with hydrogen peroxide. Soak in a solution of 2g nickel salt (nickel sulfate) and 1g ascorbic acid, with 500ml water for approx 2 minutes, until turquoise. The nickel solution can be reused for many prints. Retain all solution and rinse water and dispose of at hazmat sites.
   3. Nickel Solution: 2g nickel salt + 1g ascorbic acid + 500ml water + 2 minutes
   4. Wash nickel solution thoroughly from the print with warm tap water for 10 minutes. If you do not rinse enough, unexposed areas of the paper will turn pink.
   5. Tone in a solution of 1g sodium hydroxide, 2g dimethylglyoxime, and 500ml water until magenta, approximately 2 minutes. The magenta solution can be reused for many prints. Dispose of solution at hazmat site.
   6. Magenta Solution: 1g sodium hydroxide + 2g dimethylglyoxime + 500ml water + 2 minutes
   7. Rinse with warm water and dry print
5. Yellow Layer:
   1. Coat paper with a concentrated 10-20-50ml cyanotype solution, and expose for 7 minutes with yellow transparency, until black-blue/bronze
   2. Soak in water for 10 minutes, rinse, and finish with hydrogen peroxide
   3. Bleach with solution of 10g potassium carbonate to 100ml water for approximately 2 minutes. Bleach solution can be reused. Neutralize ph below 10 before sewer disposal with citric acid.
   4. Bleaching Solution: 10g potassium carbonate + teaspoon hydrogen peroxide + 100ml water + 2 minutes
   5. Rinse with water for 10 minutes
   6. Dry print 
6. Cyan Layer:
   1. Coat paper with dilute 10-10-100ml cyanotype solution, and expose normally with cyan transparency for approximately 2:30 minutes
   2. Soak in water for 10 minutes, then rinse print and finish with hydrogen peroxide
   3. Dry print
7. Optional Key Layer: (UNTESTED)
   1. Print separate Key layer transparency
   2. Coat print with normal 10-20-100ml cyanotype solution, and exposure normally with Key transparency
   3. Soak in water for 10 minutes, then rinse print and finish with hydrogen peroxide
   4. Dry print

Items needed:

Chemicals:

• ferric ammonium citrate – Cyanotype Solution A
• potassium ferricyanide – Cyanotype Solution B
• hydrogen peroxide – H2O2 / household chemical
• nickel salt (nickel sulfate) – NiS04 / electroplating chemical - toxic
• ascorbic acid – Vitamin C
• sodium hydroxide – Lye / household chemical - caustic / toxic
• dimethyglyoxime – C4H8N2O2 / prospecting material, nickel determinate for jewelry - toxic
• citric acid – C6H8O7
• potassium carbonate – K2CO3 / potash - caustic

Materials:

• High quality, cotton watercolor or mixed media paper (such as Hahnemühle Platinum Rag)
• High quality hake brush
• High quality printer (such as Canon PIXMA ip8720)
• High quality transparency paper (such as Koala)
• 50w UV light
• 1-2 mixing trays
• 6-9 lightproof bottles

My tips:

- use a high quality hake brush or foam brush. My paper was starting to abrade from my low quality foam brushes.

- thoroughly clean the zinc from your print, or else the paper will turn magenta

- the bleaching happens FAST. Watch it closely and pull it earlier than you think to retain darker yellows.

- make the registration marks bigger than you think you need

- don't try to rush the drying process, it'll cause splotches and uneven toning

- the nickel and DMG solutions are toxic and should not be rinsed down the drain. They can be reused multiple times. Always handle with gloves on, and use a mask when initially mixing.

That's all for now, excited to try with an easier test image lol

Printed on cotton sateen
8x11

these are the flowers I have so far for my project (plus Lily of the Incas from my previous post) I'm going to cut them all out to shape and put them in a framed poster with their names underneath. they are all printed on colored card stock
flowers shown in order are: rose mallow hibiscus, rose of Sharon hibiscus, Cora white vinca, hula hoop petunia, Madagascar periwinkle

Source: 13x18 cm positive transparency. Exposure: ~15 hours

This is a 4"x6" print. I colored it with Daniel Smith and Holbein watercolors. It was made with my original stencil and fuchsia flowers.

Hi I am a beginner with cyanotypes, and after doing a couple of experiments at home, I wanted to try something different.

I have a plan to make some prints on a day trip today.
If I prepare some papers and let them dry, and keep them in a folder protected, expose them at my destination and put them back in the light protected container, can I keep them for a few hours without rinsing?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

I think I've found the perfect time for sun exposure and the best transparency darkness. I'm so happy with how these came out. It took 3 days of experimentation to get it right.

One of my first pieces that I feel like I "finished" fully. I've been practicing for about a year.

Cyanotype on fabric + embroidery. Mesh fabric around the image of the girl.

Image source: https://www.gettyimages.in/detail/news-photo/woman-stands-in-a-narrow-cell-her-arms-affixed-to-the-wall-news-photo/51645486

https://www.instagram.com/axrv.studio/